The present invention concerns a carrier for several cable holders, in particular of optical fiber cables.
Cable holders, particularly for optical fiber cables, are used when optical components or parts, preferably after their manufacture, are to be tested and/or gauged with respect to their proper functioning for example. Usually, a large number of optical fiber cables are connected to a suitable measuring and/or testing device for this purpose. In order to improve manageability, the optical fiber cables are equipped with a cable holder for connection to the measuring and/or testing device. Such a cable holder appropriately comprises a plug that can be plugged into a corresponding socket on the measuring and/or testing device. Subsequently, the highest possible quality optical signal transmission can be guaranteed when taking readings. The user must also ply the cables very carefully as the open cable ends sticking out from the respective cable holder are extremely touch sensitive, in particular in case of optical fiber cables. It is therefore advisable to plug the cable holder into the socket of the measuring and/or testing device immediately after attachment to the cable. Since a relatively large number of cables must be connected to the respective measuring and/or testing device using such a cable holder for testing test more complex components, there exists a need to simplify the management of the individual cable holders.
An electrical multiple plug is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,596,436, and JP-A-05 313040 presents an optical multiple plug. Other optical plugs are known from JP-A-60 135912, JP-63 233346 or EP-A-672927.
The current invention deals with the issue of presenting a way to simplify the manageability of cable holders. This problem is solved by means of the objects of the independent claims. Preferred designs are the object of the dependent claims.
The current invention is based on the notion of providing a carrier into which several cable holders can be plugged. With this proposal it is possible to fasten several cable holders in the carrier at the same time, subsequently merging them for easier manageability. This is because a certain number of cable holders can be handled simultaneously without the need for particularly painstaking exactness with a carrier that incorporates several cable holders at the same time. The carrier can serve as a stacking unit or depot for the cable holders, for example, before it is plugged into the socket of the measuring and/or testing device.
In one particularly advantageous embodiment, the carrier is designed as a multiple plug to be plugged into a complementary multiple socket arranged on the respective measuring and testing device. Subsequently, several cable holders plugged into the carrier can be connected simultaneously to the respective measuring and/or testing device by means of the carrier with this scheme. The cable holders also become easier to manage as a result.
Furthermore, in another design a protective cap can be provided that can be attached to the housing of the carrier and thereby receive and externally protect the open ends of the cables of the cable holders plugged into the carrier. With the aid of this protective cap, the carrier can be used particularly well as an intermediate stacking unit for the individual cable holders, wherein the protective cap effectively prevents contact of the sensitive open cable ends. If the protective cap is designed to be removable, the carrier can be designed again suitably as a multiple plug.
According to another embodiment, several, particularly all receptacles arranged on the carrier provide a larger width than height transverse to the plug direction of the cable holders, wherein such receptacles are arranged upward over each other or next to each other on the carrier housing. Such a construction allows the dimensions of the carrier to be relatively compact. In particular, the distances of receptacles arranged over each other and/or next to each other can be chosen relatively small to achieve relatively compact stacking of the cable holders. This type of construction is advantageous if there is only relatively little space on the measuring and/or testing device for connecting the cable holders. Due to the compact build of the carrier, several cable holders can be connected very easily to the measuring and/or testing device manually at the same time, whereas in the case of cramped space, manual attachment of the individual cable holders is not easily possible. Moreover, this embodiment makes it possible to arrange several multiple sockets on the measuring and/or testing device widthwise next to each other in order to connect several carriers designed as multiple plugs onto the measuring and/or testing device next to each other. Such a dense arrangement of individual cable holders on the measuring and/or testing device is hardly feasible with cable holders that can be plugged in individually, or if so, only with a great amount of skill involved.